The Urgency of God's Calling!

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” – Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV

According to Google, the definition of the word ‘urge’ is to “to persuade (someone) to do something.” This word can be used or illustrated by strongly encouraging someone to move in a particular direction. For example, my father urged me to relax when I was doing something I thought I could not handle, such as calming myself down when there is water on my face. Now, I do not panic when there is water on my face. Another instance was that my spiritual mother urged me to calm myself down and not to worry of assignment deadlines. She encouraged me to put my faith into the grace of God and carry with assignments without any worries.  She also encouraged me to persevere during my theological studies as I was about to quit in doing two papers a semester. Now, I am not afraid of assignment deadlines and doing two papers a semester. Instead of being worried, I am rather motivated to do two theological papers a semester. I realised that I should discipline myself into studying. Overall, I think that joy triumphs difficulties (Galatians 2:19-21).

Apostle Paul was probably filled with the joy of the Lord as he was writing Ephesians letter because he considered himself as “a prisoner for the Lord.” He knew what it means to live God’s calling out. God’s calling is often recognised as the will of God. However, in this case, it is written as a godly life. Thus, Ephesians 4:1 goes like “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a godly life.” As father’s footsteps could be important for children to follow, living a godly life is essential to the believers. In fact, God is the heavenly Father of everyone (Ephesians 4:6). Hence, their motivation for the Lord lies on imitating Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:1) as human beings have been created to be the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30).

Meditate on Genesis 1-2 and Ephesians 1:3-14. Ask yourself a question today: “Have I been following footsteps of the Almighty Father and the Creator of universe?”